Does childhood misfortune raise the risk of acute myocardial infarction in adulthood?

Abstract

Whereas most research on acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has focused on more proximal influences, such as adult health behaviors, the present study examines the early origins of AMI. Longitudinal data were drawn from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (N = 3032), a nationally representative survey of men and women aged 25-74, which spans from 1995 to 2005. A series of event history analyses modeling age of first AMI investigated the direct effects of accumulated and separate domains of childhood misfortune as well as the mediating effects of adult health lifestyle and psychosocial factors. Findings reveal that accumulated childhood misfortune and child maltreatment increased AMI risk, net of several adult covariates, including family history of AMI. Smoking fully mediated the effects of both accumulated childhood misfortune and child maltreatment. These findings reveal the importance of the early origins of AMI and health behaviors as mediating factors.

Keywords: Childhood adversity; Cumulative inequality theory; Heart attack; Smoking; USA.

Figure 1

Relationship between accumulated childhood misfortune, smoking, and acute myocardial infarction. ^aUnstandardized coefficient. ^bConfidence interval. ^cIndirect effect: b=0.011**. *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001 (two-tailed tests)

Figure 2

Relationship between child maltreatment, smoking, and acute myocardial infarction. ^aUnstandardized coefficient ^bConfidence interval. ^cIndirect effect: b=0.029*. *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001 (two-tailed tests)